Eero Hirvonen considered the competition organizers’ decision to jump irresponsible. The mixed team race had to be stopped after two falls. According to Hirvonen, the descent hill was “quite sticky”.
12:28•Updated 12:29
In the combined mixed team hill at the World Championships in Planica, there was drama when Italy Alessandro Pitti and Japan Akito Watabe fell on successive jumps.
Throw them before Eero Hirvonen had stayed upright in his 99 meter jump, but with difficulty.
– Going down is really sticky. It’s really hard to come down. It doesn’t help to come down with as much back weight as possible, Hirvonen stated.
It’s not an easy task with hill bikes either. According to Hirvonen, women can come down a little more safely because they are lighter.
– When you come down 100 kilometers per hour and then catch up, you can think how nice it is, Hirvonen stated.
The experienced Pittin already crashed his jump in the test round. According to Hirvinen, you can wonder what’s wrong when even experienced athletes who have seen a lot can’t stay upright, even though they know what they should do.
Hirvonen considered it irresponsible to carry out the competition under these conditions. During ‘s TV interview, it became clear that the competition will be resumed after an hour break at 13:00 Finnish time.
The Finnish athlete was not convinced by the decision.
– It was quite sad that the test round was cancelled. Then they try to go up the hill a bit and up the hill again, Hirvonen charged the race organizers with direct criticism.
Hirvino had one solution to offer.
– It should probably be salted a little, in the same way as on a ski slope, to make the descent surface icy, Hirvonen stated.
After the interview, the international skiing federation FIS specified that the new start time for the hill would be 13:30.
Sports expert Janne Ahosen too according to me, the descent seen now in Planica is really distressing. In Planica, the conditions changed a lot during the night, when the snow came really hard.
– I myself know that new snow is unnerving. This hill drops from high. The descent thumps and then the ski catches. If the weight is ahead, let’s go straight to the front, Ahonen illustrated.
According to Ahonen, you won’t be able to climb the hill properly in an hour. Now he considers jumping a safety risk. However, Ahonen believes that everything possible will be done for safe sports.
– The snow surprised the winter athletes, Ahonen stated succinctly.
The story is updated.